A solid electrolytic capacitor structured as shown in FIG. 9 has been conventionally known. This solid electrolytic capacitor includes a capacitor element 2 having an anode terminal 10′ and a cathode terminal 12′ attached to an undersurface thereof. The capacitor element 2 is covered with a housing 8 made of a synthetic resin. The capacitor element 2 includes a dielectric oxide film 5, a cathode layer 6, and a cathode lead layer 7, which are sequentially formed on a peripheral surface of an anode element 3, which is a sintered body of a valve metal. A valve metal means here a metal for forming an extremely fine and durable dielectric oxide film 5 by electrolytic oxidation treatment, and may be tantalum, niobium, aluminum, titanium, etc.
An anode lead 4 made of tantalum projects from the heightwise middle of the anode element 3. Because the anode lead 4 and the anode terminal 10′ have a different height, a cylindrical bolster member 9 intervenes between the anode lead 4 and the anode terminal 10′ to electrically connect the both (see, for example, JP 2005-244177, A).
The arrangement of the bolster member 9 being attached on the anode terminal 4 as described above however complicates the attachment process, and requires high accuracy in attachment, because the bolster member 9 has a small diameter and length of 1 mm or less. In order to avoid the process that is complicated and needs high accuracy, it is possible to etch a metal plate to form a projection. However, low etching accuracy in mass production could cause projections with great variations in height. This makes it difficult to attach the anode lead, entailing problems of poor appearance and performance variations.